Pawel Szafruga

Sick movement. Can't remember the last time I heel hooked and knee scummed in the same move. Came together really fast. 5th go.

Fantastic rock and great moves. Seemed so easy I downrated it before I did it. Karma came along and put me in my place. 5 goes.

Quite bouldery and sustained. Took some effort. First go on the 4th day.

Fun climb.

Short hard bit, cool top.

Sweet pitch. The greasy was nauseating but hopefully all this humidity passes soon.

Fun, minus the one painful crimp move.

Great position, fun moves.

Fantastic movement. Sustained. Fun battle to find the holds on this chalkless route.

Skips the terrifying Little Bee traverse into the great arete.

Short.

Fun moves, cool holds.

Awkward.

3rd try. Spicy! The traverse is gripping and the rest is great sustained slaps and pinches. This wall is sick!

Stemming to a crimpy little bit.

Good rock, short.

Good rock and fun climbing.

A bolted mountaineering route.

Fantastic pitch.

Second try. Phenomenal sustained climbing.

Good other than poorly placed anchors.

Hard! This pitch is sick, one of my favorite 12's I've done.

A miracle.

First try on link but I'd done the top years ago.

Great arete, a bit spicy.

Sweet day.

First pitch. Think I fell off this about 5 years ago...no troublems this go around.

Third try. Amazing pitch, maybe my favorite at Smith.

Phenomenal pitch. By far the most insecure of the aretes I got to do this trip. 2.5 goes.

Worthy extension.

Rad! Second try, fell off the day before in unusually muggy conditions. Better than Heinous imo... Loved it.

One of the best 11's I've done at Smith.

Sweet pitch. Lots of variety.

Didn't expect this one. Pumpy!

2nd try to the upper anchor. Was pretty tired so it added some excitement. Seems being a little taller would have helped on this one...

3rd try. Fun route, although it is a bummer that the 'window wiper' holds are so polished.

Fun pitch. Didn't have any real beta, but everyone knows where the crux is. Exciting attempt to try to onsight the extension.

Sweet pitch. Glad Mel and I got to do it before the whiteout!

Amazing! One off the lifetime list. 9th go.

Start is painful, top is contrived.

Mostly sucks, imo.

Fun.

The start is 12a if done direct, and the finish is probably 11b. Major sandbag to just the first anchors.

Some reachy and unpleasant moves.

I think I fell off this about five years ago...not sure. Not much fun.

Good climbing with amazing position.

Flows pretty well. Peepshow looks painful but maybe...

Pretty fun. Would have been terrifying if it was at my level...

Cool climbing, but I found the hard moves not very pleasant.

Finally! Couldn't send this three years ago to save my life, and this time it just went.

Sick arete! Would be perfect without the choss start.

2nd try. Sick route. Great rock and movement, and some nice drilled holds up high.

Chossy middle.

Stupid bolting down low.

Fun route.

Perdy gimmie for the grade.

Not so much fun.

Really cool pitch. Fun moves.

Super fun.

Great climb with an unfortunately awkward crux.

Fantastic pitch.

Friction!

Second try. Got way easier once out of the sun.

Sweet climb. Great movement and holds all the way.

Quite a few scary holds, but overall a fun route.

Sweet climb. Thought provoking the whole way.

Pretty short and hard. Fantastic movement. 3rd try.

Amazing! This pitch is a blast with fantastic movement and rock the whole way. 5 tries.

Pumpy little number. Thanks for the beta Mel.

No hard moves, just fun and steep.

Second try. Sweet little route.

One move wonder.

Like a mountaineering route. I elected for the direct finish, so it was cool to top out the crag.

Hard move low to not so hard climbing. Some cool holds.

Doesn't seem to get done as much as the others at this wall.

Contrived start. Not nearly as good as Banana Dance.

Barely sent second try. I don't think anyone has done this in years so it took a bit to figure it out. Sustained and sweet.

Third try. The new extension to The Hype. Sick pitch! Thanks Clay!

Hardest and worst on the warm-up wall in my opinion.

Really cool, maybe my favorite on the warm-up wall. Why does this wall get such a bad rep?

This is probably the best easy route I've done in the Southwest.

Really great line. Came together really quick, and then became a mini-epic to send. 4th go on my 6th day working it. Never have to climb Fall of Mouse again!

Sweet addition. This thing climbs great.

Sweet boulder problem.

Second try. Cool climbing with a pretty short crux.

Sharp but pretty cool.

Pretty cool.

Fun climbing. A couple really sharp holds.

Nice and long. Great warm up.

Harder than Arnold.

First try, but I had done the direct. Sweet pitch.

Sick climb! So much fun.

Sweet balancy line. Harder than Almost French in my humble opinion.

So many bolts. Fun moves.

A lot of variety. Standard Shelf Road awkward anchor clip.

Sweet pitch.

Second try...fell off the upper crux. I don't really understand how this is supposed to add two grades to the regular version.

Alright...some fun moves.

Cool for a short power route.

Second try...almost had the onsight. Fun route, bit of an old school feel.

Too many bolts.

First route here...not so impressed.

Cool.

Amazing!

Sick pitch. Sustained!

Good route, a couple really sharp holds.

Really fun pitch. Sweet rock.

Amazing pitch with a nice little slab finish. A few goes last year when it was wet, and second try this year. Psyched!

Pretty easy for the grade but I read the roof completely wrong first try. 2 goes.

See previous.

I was wrong, there are routes in the VRG that aren't spectacular.

First go I thought this thing was impossible and literally 100 hung my way up it. Second go it just kind of came together. Sweet pitch.

Slab weirdness.

Fun moves, some suspect rock.

Sweet! Really enjoyable movement and very unique for Red Choss.

5 tries. Terribly hot conditions made it a battle. Oh well, a fun route.

Sustained start. Fun.

Sweet moves. Two tries.

Fun.

Top half is stellar.

A bit more involving and sustained than I expected. Funk.

Long and sustained. Second try. Pumpy way to start the new year.

Marginal start to superb finish through tufas and interesting pulls. Second try.

Great warm-up. Fun crux.

Some suspect rock but pretty fun.

Sweet pitch. Wish I had more than two days this trip.

Life a flash, but I had tried it on a hot day over a year ago. Worst on the wall but still fun.

Sharp start to jugs.

Sweet pitch.

Fun and juggy.

Easiest on the wall for me.

Favorite on the wall.

Second try. Memorable. One of the best at the Red.

Sick pitch. Pumpy, but not as killing as I was told it'd be.

Sweet. This whole wall is outstanding.

Fun route. Feels like a gimmie as the top is easier than a ladder to climb.

Cool. Like a mini Orange Juice.

Cool little gem that seems to get overlooked.

Old school style...pure magic!

Fun moves.

Screwed it up but hung on.

Cool. No endurance.

Sick 3 pitch bolted route. Pleasantly sustained. Thanks Garr!

Harder than all the other 12's here...cool boulderyness.

Cool.

Sweet.

The other, less awkward one.

Sweet!

Original finish looks grim.

Sweet.

Sweet pitch. Thanks Zack for the ticks and Mark for the spray.

Hard as fuck! Four goes over two trips. What a gem though, this route is priceless.

Back on the harder sandstone.

Second ascent? Short, thin crux.

Amazing! Been wanting to do this for a while and it was definitely worth the hike. Second try.

Cool. Great rock.

Holy shit it is hot at this crag...bad afternoon idea.

Left of Blue Collar Workweek (a 5.10 A5 Joe French line) I spied this system of crimps. 13 hand drilled bolts later, this is maybe the most sport-climb-ish route I've been on in Zion.

Sick pitch.

Awkward crux...

Someone left a bail draw, I love gumbies!

Fantastic. Bummer that it was so humid because fighting the slime was oppressive. Regardless, a memorable climb.

Chossy in sections, but fantastic climbing.

Nice and long.

Fun, flowed well.

Another sweet pitch.

Cool. Second anchor didn't add any difficulty.

Kind of spicy...could use an extra bolt. Otherwise cool.

12a...how? Stupid route that I don't know why it gets three stars in the book. Definite deck potential from bolts 3 to 4 while traversing on choss.

11c...how? Super cool pockets.

Sick arete.

Amazing route and this little streaked wall is a gem! Fantastic arete that seems impossible until you get a little help from the other arete...

Scary loose rock up high, otherwise cool.

Second try. Sustained and pretty painful.

No chalk so took a bit of effort to find all the pockets. Brilliant route.

Felt hard with no chalk...

@ Lambs Knoll. Short blob before the Black Varnish wall. This is the middle one.

Sick.

Fantastic! Perhaps the most sustained route I've tried in Maple. If the easier lines were rebolted this would be a good crag...

Sick roof!

Really cool down low...top needs a bit more traffic.

Second try.

5 pitches. First three good, last two not so much.

Bolts! I love bolts!

Bunch of sweet deadpoints to cobbles.

Bouldery.

Painful.

Sick fun route! One of the best at the crag.

Super sick pitch. Start is sustained!

Fun, climbs kind of long.

Kind of spicy bolting...cool movement.

Easier than the 10's at the wall.

Sick first pitch, second pitch perdy easy with two, awkward moves.

Underwhelmed. The photo looked cool but this route mostly sucked.

Amazing four pitch venture with Mel. Each pitch is different and spectacular.

This feels cheap...even at 12c.

Perdy cool and varied.

Hundreds of dollars in gas money, 14 days and 5 stitches later, you're mine! Epic, to say the least. Perhaps the finest choss I'll ever climb.

Second try. The goal was to struggle up it at the end of the day to "get some more beta" but suddenly I found myself below the scariest slab outside of England!

Frustrating one move wonder.

A gimmie even for 12a, but maybe the windstorm helped push me up wall. Sick place!

Really cool moves and some awesome rock up high.

One move. Cool ear hold up high, otherwise I think the least enjoyable warm up here.

I want to go climb more tufas!

Pulled out some whack beta through the thin section up high. Fun fight.

Fun and interesting moves.

Cool boulder problem up high, pretty bland otherwise.

Progressive difficulty culminating in some sweet moves over the lip. Three goes.

At first I thought I had on-sighted the softest 12d of all time, but then I was made aware that this was a different route. Almost quit when I spent ten minutes trying to clip the second bolt. Sweet climbing from there on up.

A worse start to Pocket Line. Does this even count as a route with a whole two bolts of independent climbing?

200th 5.12, yay!

Cool. Climbs a lot better than it looks.

Second try. Wow. This thing is brilliant.

Cool. Wish Joe was dry...

Hard, but so is everything here.

Cool.

Speechless. Second try.

What a dream! Can't believe a route can be so long and have zero sections that are a gimmie.

Sick route. I love the VRG!

And now onto the big boy...

Took a lot of effort fighting the grease. Cool climb.

To first anchor = sweet. To second anchor = trash.

Sweet.

Sweet. Good climb and this place is sweet.

Took some gusto. Sorry Previa for driving you in all the way.

Thank you Kevin for the warm up recommendation.

Cool.

Second try.

Sickness. Started off the ground. Second go.

Dla Taty. Thank you Melissa for the patience, support and for believing when I didn't. Best pitch I can remember.

One right of Pockets of Dirt. Really good and kind of hard.

First go = WTF? Second go = super good.

Cool climbing...rock pretty suspect.

Wow! What a surprise! Perhaps the most stunning line I'll ever get to do. Good story to the name...more on the blog to come.

Second try.

Sick good. Why no stars in the book?

A bit dirty but doesn't seem to get any traffic. Should have been second go...RIP anchor clipping jug.

Sick! Linked the direct to the top of the wall. Brilliant!

Cool.

Where's the chalk at the top?? Sick good. Second try.

Tricky!

Flowed so well. Loved this one.

Sick series of moves through and past the crux.

Fitness returning slowly...

Cool patina.

Fantastic. Second try.

Second go. Felt desperate for the grade. Offset feature up high yields an incredible section.

Mel is here!

Yikes! A bit of a fight without any chalk on it.

Who says you can't climb when it's snowing?

Fun.

Second go. Tired.

98% on site...2% flash, but Punto says I can't take it.

Superb.

Brick hard after the rain...

Amazing.

Amazing sequences through the start. Loved it.

Cool.

Favorite on this section of the wall.

Second try.

Stunning.

Way harder than Wild Gift...

Perdy gimmie.

To the second anchors. Great long pitch.

Why doesn't this thing get more stars than the routes to the left?

Amazing rock.

Great route.

Cool.

Huge grips.

As good as Soul Ram...why doesn't this get done more?

Amazing! Up there with the best lines I've had the pleasure of doing.

Bunches harder than 8 Ball IMHO.